Wheeling, W. Va. - With the Indoor Track & Field season ending this season with the 2022 National Championships, the time has come for the transition to outdoor season. The Wheeling University Track & Field team will have two representatives at nationals, but the multi-event athletes will begin their outdoor season on Friday at the Glenville State Brandi Bowen Invite. For the multis, it is their third time competing this season, and the second time that they have been involved in an individual meet.
The last times the multis took the course was at the 2022 Mountain East Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. Liz Salas and JaLynn McClarren represented the Cardinals on the women's side and Desi James represents the Cardinals on the Men's side. McClarren finished fifth in the conference in the women's Pentathlon and Salas finished just two spots behind her in seventh. On the men's side, James was the lone representative, and finished eighth in the conference with 2919 points.
McClarren led the way for the women, finishing top four in every event except for the 800-meter pentathlon. Her best event of the day was the first one out of the gate in the 60-Meter Hurdles to start her day off strong. She finished third overall with a time of 10.06 and finished .32 seconds off the pace of the top runner. For Salas, she had a mixture of finishes throughout the day, but her best performance was in the shot put. She placed second in that leg of the Pentathlon, throwing 9.97 meters, just .03 meters off the distance of the event leader. In just their second true competition of the season, it was a strong showing for the ladies and gives them an edge heading to outdoor season.
On the men's side, James finished eighth overall, but had success in the sprinting events using his speed to lead the pack. In the first event of the Heptathlon, James finished third in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.44 seconds to begin his day strong. That would be his highest finish of the day and he secured two sixth place finishes in the Shot Put and the 60-Meter Hurdles. James finished eighth in his first multi event of the year as well as he tries to keep improving heading into outdoor season.
Friday officially kicks off Outdoor season for both the Men's and Women's Track team, and each squad has something to build off as they get their outdoor slate started. The teams will compete in eight different invitationals before competing in the 2022 MEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, May 1st through May 3rd. After that, all eyes will be on the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships as Wheeling tries to send more contenders to the National Championship.
The Details
The men's and women's Pentathlon will kick off the Brandi Bowen Invitational. The first days events kick-off with the field events at 11 AM.
